ALLOUEZ -- The lyrics for “In Real Life,” the opening song on Amanda Vernon’s 2013 CD entitled Interior Gaze, include: “More than my favorite football team, I want you to see the real me.”

Occasionally when performing the song, Vernon adds the name of her favorite team, the Green Bay Packers.

“My parents are both from Wisconsin,” said Vernon, a singer, pianist, and composer. “We had two rules in our house. You have to be Catholic and be a Packers fan. I’m a legitimate cheesehead. I was born in La Crosse. My family then moved to Grand Rapids (Mich.).”

Vernon will get a close look at the Packers when she performs the National Anthem at the 2014 Bishop’s Charities Game, on Thursday, Aug. 28.

“It’s been on my dream list for years,” she said in a phone interview with The Compass, the diocesan newspaper in Green Bay. “I can remember at a young age being asked to write down my life goal, and I wrote that I wanted to sing at Lambeau Field.”

Vernon, who will play the keyboard to accompany her rendition of the “Star-Spangled Banner,” has performed concerts for churches, youth conferences, universities, and special events throughout the U.S.

Vernon’s Catholic faith guides her music.

“My faith is very home grown,” she explained. “Developing my gift of music always went hand in hand with the gift of faith. My parents taught me at an early age that if I’m going to be singing, I should be praying at the same time.”

Vernon began singing in church choirs at age six and playing the piano at Mass at 11. She released her debut CD, Shine Thru Me, at age 15.

Vernon’s latest CD is an acoustic collection recorded in January. Information on her other releases is available at www.amandavernon.com

A family move from Grand Rapids to the San Francisco Bay area is scheduled for November. Vernon will follow the Packers no matter what city she calls home.

“I’m not a pseudo-fan,” she said. “I watch the games. We don’t talk during football games, even during the commercials. It’s a challenge for me to follow the Packers when I’m on the road because my music ministry and conferences are often on Sundays. I call my dad, and he gives me updates.”